Sound The Deep Waters
by mfig
Summary: How far can one man be pushed both mentally and physically?
1. Default Chapter

Sound the Deep Waters  
  
  
  
A small body franticly tries to swim to the surface of the lake. The water is a very dark blue, but bright at the surface.  
  
"When I was seven years old I fell into the lake. I was alone and didn't know how to swim. With out anyone to come to my rescue, my entire existence depended on me, and my ability to prevail."  
  
The young boy tries with all his might to reach the surface, his lungs burning due to the lack of oxygen. His eyes are wide and scared.  
  
"It was during these two life altering minutes that the man I came to be began to take shape. As I fought to get to the surface I could see my short life play out before me, my parents abandoning me, crying myself to sleep every night, the constant hurt and shame I felt whenever I contemplated why they chose to walk out on me. All these things summed up into one miserable sinking feeling that began to weigh me down."  
  
The small arms began to slow down their struggle to get out of the water. Small bubble of air began to escape him, a feeling of defeat spreading through out his body. His eyes close as he let the lake swallow him, pull him all the way down to the bottom.  
  
"As I let the lake overpower my body and drag me down to its depth, other moments of my life began to revisit me also. Primarily the times I spent with my grandma, a kind-hearted woman who took me in without any hesitations. The feel of her loving arms around me whenever she would come to my side during the nights of endless weeping, spur something inside of me to take action."  
  
The boy's eyes open suddenly, but this time there was no fear in them. Instead there was a fiery look of determination. His legs and arms began to move in their own accord, skillfully and powerfully pushing him up to the surface. The closer he got to the bright surface, the farter away he was from the cold depth.  
  
Loud sharp intakes of breath escaped his lips when he was finally out of the water. His small hands taking hold of the edge of the dock as he pushed himself out of the lake and onto the hard surface. He could hear the worried calls of his grandmother, but he didn't make a move to call her out. Instead he lay on the dock shivering, trying to catch his breath, fully knowing that she would eventually come to him.  
  
"Something remarkable had happened that day, a spark had been lit within me. From that moment on I was different person. It was as if I had been reborn again, but this time around I was different, better, harder. Nothing could bring me down from that day on. Or at least, that's what I thought..."  
  



	2. Things Have Change

Things Have Change  
  
  
  
Gonna take dancing lessons do the jitterbug rag  
  
Ain't no shortcuts, gonna dress in drag  
  
Only a fool in here would think he's got anything to prove  
  
Bob Dylan  
  
  
  
Fonzie bolted up right, cold sweat coming down the side of his face. Calming his labored breath he looked around the small dark apartment, his eyes were as huge as saucers as they tried to adapt to the darkness.  
  
"Not again" he mumbled to himself as he lye back down again. Starring at the ceiling he contemplated why he kept having the same dream almost every night. Although, technically it wasn't a dream, it was more of a memory, one that he had thought long forgotten, but now it was back. Somehow it had resurfaced to haunt him like an old ghost. It just wouldn't go away and he sure as hell didn't know how to make it disappear.  
  
Being more practical he began to remember something an ex-girlfriend of his had told him once. She had been a psychology major and loved to discuss dreams. She had explained to him that dreams were just away for our subconscious to tell us something. Perhaps by him dreaming of this long forgotten memory, his subconscious was trying to point something out to him, something of great importance.  
  
But what? Fonzie honestly did not know. What could there be to point out? Nothing! There was absolutely nothing that was wrong with his life or the way he chose to live it.  
  
Liar!  
  
"I am not!" he screamed out into the darkness. There was absolutely nothing wrong with his life, although....  
  
Yes?  
  
Well, sometimes, mostly when he came how drunk out of his mind, he would just sit on the floor and cry from the utter loneliness that crept into his soul at times. After crying his eyes out he would stare at his wall of girls. Their cold eyes would stare back him, taunting him in a way. Reminding him that he would never be more than this, what he was now, "The Fonz"!  
  
Everyone would grow up and move on and he would just stay up here, over the Cunningham's garage forever. Instead getting older and moving on, doing normal things like everyone else. Finding that other person to share the rest of his life with, perhaps start a family of his own.  
  
All those thoughts oddly warmed him all over, made him eager to wake up one more day and see what life had in stored for him. But just as soon as that feeling overtook him, reality would slap him in the face, once again reminding him that he wasn't going anywhere.  
  
That day at the lake when he had almost died, he had walked away with a new sense of being, that same sense that made him "The Fonz", the damn living legend of Milwaukee. The admiration that came along with such a title had been amazing, but only for the first couple of years! Now he was getting older and wished that he had never become the leather-clad rebel in the first place. Wished with all his heart that he too would be allow to get old and move on to the next overdue stage of his life that he was itching to embark upon.  
  
Maybe that's what his subconscious was trying to tell him!  
Or perhaps that he shouldn't eat Chinese food before going to bed. 


	3. Leap Years

Leap Years  
  
  
  
"Heellooo Tina" Fonzie said in his charming drawl as he made his way over to the attractive stop sign lady.  
  
"Oh Fonzie!" she said in a surprised voice, dropping the STOP sign she had been holding up. Together they both escorted the small children across the street as they talked.  
  
"Listen, Tina, did I by any chance leave a pair of sunglasses in your car last week?" he asked in an eager tone. They were his favorite sunglasses and he really didn't feel like replacing them.  
  
"Yeah, let me get them" she began to make her way to her car, but stop midway. "Do you mind?" she asked giving him the STOP sign and whistle.  
  
"Sure" he said as he put the whistle around his neck. Giving him a kiss on the cheek she ran off to retrieve his sunglasses. Fonzie watched her run off, her jeans happened to be smug in all the right places..  
  
"Heeyyy" he said to himself appreciatively. Returning to the middle of the street he held up the bright sign and whistle for the kids to cross the street. One by one they strolled by, blue coats, red coats, yellow, orange.. Suddenly all the colors began to swirl, everything becoming terribly slow in motion as a wave of nausea gripped him, making him lose his balance.  
  
Crouching protectively on the cold ground all sounds began to blur into one loud noise, violating his ears. Shielding them with his hands he looked around, but everything was fuzzy and muddled. He closed his eyes, trying to adjust them, suddenly the harsh noise stopped. A clear definite voice could only be heard now, it surrounded him, demanded his full attention.  
  
Suddenly he wasn't outside anymore, in fact, he wasn't even in Milwaukee. He was home - well what use to be home. Rising slowly he moved around his old bedroom. It was exactly the way he remembered it, small, blue and full of all kinds of toys.  
  
Wondering out into the hallway he could hear two hush voices from downstairs. Slowly he made his way down the stairs, but stopped halfway.  
  
The voices were now crystal clear and they were by no means hush. He also recognized these two voices; it was his mother and father! They were in the living room moving back and forth, clearly in the middle of an argument.  
  
"Why?" she demanded in an outraged tone. "Why now? You have a family! Don't we mean anything to you?" her voice rose with each word.  
  
"Angela, you're not being fair! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Ever since I was a little boy I've always wanted to travel, explore, and this is my last chance to do it!" His voice pleaded for her understanding. "I don't care! You have a responsibility to your son and I. If you walk out that door, don't ever bother on coming back. I won't stand here and just let you run off to play sea captain and then come back to us like nothing ever happened." Tears were now falling freely down her face. Fonzie wished with all his heart that he could take her pain away.  
  
His father rose, grabbed his bags and opened the front door. Turning back he gave her one last glance. "Tell him I love him," he said as he closed the door. Angela finally broke down on the sofa; her cries turning into full fledge screams of agony.  
  
"That's it" Fonzie said to himself as he made his way down the stairs, but before he could reach her the nauseating feeling he had experienced early gripped him again. The entire room began to blur too as he was thrust back into his life, back to the present.  
  
He opened his eyes slowly to find a dozen small faces starring down at him. "Fonzie, baby?" Tina worriedly called, cradling his head in her lap. But instead of answering her he just got up, hopped on his bike and rode off, not stopping until he was home.  
  
Once there he collapsed on the floor and began to cry until no more tears could come down. Taking off his leather jacket, he hurled it across the room, his white shirt following as he headed toward the bathroom. There he stood under the hot spray of the shower, allowing the water to cascade down his head and back, washing away the pain as he began to cry all over again.  
  
  
  
The water was beginning to turn icily cold now, but he still made no move to leave the shower. He now sat under the spray of cold water, shivering as he rocked back and forth, his knees drawn up all the way up to his strong chest.  
  
What was happening to him? He wondered, panic starting to swell in his chest. This wasn't normal! Time just didn't stop like that, especially thrusting one twenty years back into the past, it just didn't! Not to him anyway.  
  
Could he be going crazy? He began to contemplate the possibility. It would explain all the crazy things that just happened to him..  
  
Fonzie abruptly got up, turned the shower off and grabbed his towel. If he couldn't figure out what was happening, he would find someone who could and he knew just the person.  
  
  
  
"Mommy there's a man outside who wants to talk to you," a small eight year old said as he tugged his mother's skirt.  
  
Rebecca made her way to the front door, almost dropping the dishtowel she had been holding when she saw whom it was, it was Fonzie! She hadn't seen him in such a long time, almost nine years.  
  
"Hello Rebecca" he said in a very unusual voice - well, unusual for him. In fact, nothing about him seemed to be like the old Fonzie she had known and loved. He wasn't even as laid back and carefree as before, instead he now stood so rigidly, eyeing everything around him nervously. He looked as if he was about to jump out of his skin at any second.  
  
"It's been so long." she trailed off, not knowing what to say, "I'm married now" she added hurriedly, just in case he had a more amorous reason for showing up at her doorstep out of the blue. She and Fonzie had shared good times while she had been in college, but now things were different, she was married and had a beautiful family of her own.  
  
Sensing her discomfort he immediately began to explain, "no, that's not it" he said, finding the whole situation harder than he had imagine it would be. "What I'm here for is help, I need your *professional* help" he said, adding an extra emphasis on the word professional, trying to make his intention as clear as possible.  
  
Immediately she caught up with him. Her help, her professional help, which meant that he, needed a psychiatrist. Well, that she could do!  
  
"Let's step into my office," she said as she led him to her study. Silently they both made their way to the small room. Fonzie could feel a sense of relief, he had already taken the hardest step of all, but things were far from over.  
TO BE CONTINUED 


End file.
